Episode Details

Artificial intelligence isn’t just changing the technologies Cisco partners deliver. It’s changing the kinds of businesses they can build.

That’s a central theme of this episode of In The Channel, recorded at Cisco Partner Summit 2026 in Vancouver, where Alex Pujols, Cisco’s vice president of sales solutions engineering, joins us to discuss the opportunities emerging as AI becomes increasingly embedded in enterprise infrastructure and operations.

Pujols identifies security as perhaps the most immediate opportunity. He discusses Cisco’s five-stage Vulnerability Operations Maturity Model, designed to help partners assess their capabilities and develop the increasingly sophisticated services customers require. He also offers his assessment of how quickly partners are progressing through those stages.

The conversation turns to infrastructure, including emerging edge AI use cases, before exploring how Cisco Cloud Control could simplify managed services delivery. Pujols confirms that Canada is among the next markets targeted for Cloud Control availability, although no specific date has been announced.

Another major theme is partner-developed intellectual property. Cisco’s AI Studio and Model Foundry aim to make it easier for partners to build AI agents and specialized solutions, potentially creating new opportunities for recurring revenue.

But if AI agents become easy to create, how do partners differentiate their offerings and protect their intellectual property? Pujols discusses the importance of customer trust, creativity and the commercial protections Cisco is developing for its marketplace.

Finally, Pujols reflects on how AI is transforming Cisco’s Partner Innovation Challenge, with AI-related submissions rising from fewer than 20 percent just a few years ago to more than 95 percent today.

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